Posts by Denis Pombriant

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Economics and Climate Change

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

There are plenty of analyses of the costs associated with a warming planet including those associated with major weather incidents like hurricanes and tornadoes, crop failures, greater demand for electricity to control personal climate, and much more. This piece is not about that because there are other unexplored issues to...

Another facet of climate, refugee crisis

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Climate refugee is an odd term, one that many people are not familiar with but climate refugee status is something we’re already dealing with. The question is how bad we let the situation become before recognizing it as a major event that’s part of the climate crisis and not some...

Climate Change at a Crossroads

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Recent storm activity in the Atlantic and Caribbean as well as extreme hot weather and forest fires in the northwest have brought renewed attention to the topic of climate change. We may be at a tipping point where it’s no longer possible to sidestep human responsibility for the growing crisis...

Beginning of the End for Internal Combustion

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Debate about the internal combustion engine’s future in the automobile is heating up in the world’s biggest car market, China. For several years, the Chinese have been seeking ways to accelerate development of low cost and reliable electric transportation and threatening to ban the internal combustion engine. China has some...

Why Photosynthesis is So Attractive

September 26, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

There are many suggestions for removing carbon dioxide from the air to help reduce the impact of global warming including various mechanical approaches to capturing CO2 from the air and moving it to underground storage. However, if you evaluate these ideas by how much pollution causing energy they still need...

Plan B for the Carbon Cycle

September 22, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Every living thing is dependent upon green plants for sustenance. Whether you’re a vegetarian, a herbivore, or a carnivore if you look back far enough in your food chain, what you eat comes from green plants and ultimately the sun. Even fungi that breakdown once living things in the process...

Cap and Trade

September 22, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a consortium of 9 states including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont that supports a mandatory market based program to lower CO2 pollution from the electric power sector. The states agreed in 2014 to cap CO2...

Kahr-buh-n dahy-ok-sahyd (carbon dioxide)

September 22, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been blamed for planetary warming with resulting climate change. But what do we really understand about it? How much is out there and how much do we need to remove to blunt the worst effects of climate change? How would we...

Climate Leadership Council

September 21, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

It was disappointing to see the Climate Leadership Council’s (CLC) plan for dealing with the climate crisis. The group is made up of former senior members of recent Republican administrations, some with ties to the oil industry. When the group announced its formation, it seemed like the GOP had developed...

How Much Carbon?

September 21, 2017 by Denis Pombriant

We hear a lot about carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and many people disagree about whether atmospheric carbon can really affect climate. We don’t very often discuss it in hard numbers though. The most often used measurement of atmospheric carbon today is 400 parts per million (ppm) and rising which...